


Just A Hassle

by Fire_Cat_Ramblings



Series: A Strange Family [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Child Neglect, Dysfunctional Family, Family Feels, M/M, Other, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 04:01:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12573260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Cat_Ramblings/pseuds/Fire_Cat_Ramblings
Summary: It hasn't been all that long since Borsalino took in the small adorable child, but Sakazuki has hated every moment. Whether he likes it or not though, it's time to shape up, or he will have to deal with more than one loss.





	Just A Hassle

**Author's Note:**

> This story involves a good deal of child neglect and abuse from our favorite angry lava man, but more importantly there is mention of suicide and death by a young character, please keep that in mind when reading. I hope you enjoy this heartbreaking story.

     Mitsu was sitting near a desolate cliff, curled up and sobbing silently into the cold night air. Everything about that day had gone so horribly wrong, and she didn’t want for even a second to remember it, any of it. Her little jeans were dirty and her hair was covered in leaves and twigs, somewhere along the way she had lost her kitty mask and backpack. Vaguely she was aware of the cold that was setting into her limbs, and the stinging in her legs. It was supposed to be a good day… a good day…

 

     “I am not taking that little brat anywhere!” In the early morning Sakazuki was sitting at the dining room table with a cup of nearly boiling black coffee in one hand, and a newspaper in the other. As ever his face was affixed with a glare, and he looked at Borsalino as though he’d just suggested committing treason.

     “Saaakaaaa. I can’t today, and she’s been looking forward to it.” He was holding a small green backpack sized for a child and cute orange kitty mask painted by hand, thankfully not his own. “Come on, she’s your daughter too.”

     “She is NOT my daughter. You’re the one who took her in. You deal with it.” He grumbled and picked up his coffee cup to drink. Yet where he expected more arguing there was nothing, only a silence so cold it made him instinctively warm up. Glancing back at Borsalino all he could see was a shadow over the man’s face as he set the mask and backpack down on the table. It was odd to not hear something from him, to see him unsmiling and without even a comeback on its way. But the man of light said nothing and walked past him out the door, off to work on what should have been their day off.

     The coldness of the action, the way he never looked back, it left a chill in the room that wouldn’t dissipate no matter how much Sakazuki wished it would.

 

     An hour later Mitsu came running down the stairs, her small bare feet nearly tripping down the stairs as she rushed to get her bright yellow jacket on. “Papa papa! We’re not gonna be late, right?” Bouncing on her toes she darted into the dining room only to see Sakazuki sitting there silently eating his breakfast and reading the paper. Her joy came to a crashing halt at the sight and she grinded to a standstill, looking at Sakazuki and quickly bowing her head. “S-sorry Saka sir… I didn’t mean to be loud.”

     All her apology earned was a glare and a grunt, before he went back to eating his breakfast in silence. Mitsu couldn’t help but feel even smaller as she walked past him towards the kitchen. Without a word, she went to the cabinet to try and make herself breakfast. Yet even pouring a bowl of cereal was hard when you were seven years old, barely 3’2, and living in a house made for men taller than trees. Mitsu struggled to tug a small step-ladder into place, opening a high up cupboard and pulling out a box of plain wheat cereal. Sakazuki refused to allow any sort of sugary or fun cereal in the house, even if it was for the child.

     It was an entire ordeal really, getting a bowl required her to climb onto the stove and stand on her tip-toes on a large cookbook to reach the cabinet over it. The milk was too heavy so in order to pour some she had to first open the fridge, put the step-ladder in the way, set the bowl on the step ladder and fill it with cereal, then tip the milk slowly so it poured in. Of course, all of this had to be done with the dogs that seemed to be everywhere walking in and out of the open kitchen. After about twenty minutes of this she finally had a bowl and spoon and went to the dining room to eat. Thankfully Borsalino had set up a booster seat for her so she could actually eat comfortably, it was about the only comfortable part of breakfast at all really.

     During this entire ordeal Sakazuki just drank his coffee and quietly ignored the child. Now and then he looked down at one of the dogs, scratching it behind the ears or giving it a gentle enough pat on the head. Mitsu couldn’t help but somehow be jealous of that, and every now and then she looked over towards Sakazuki, wondering if he’d notice her at all. Feeling the child’s eyes on him the annoyed man looked up, giving her a harsh look and growled out a quick “What?” at her.

     Swallowing a little the young fishman looked down, trying to find the right words to say. For weeks now she had been trying to get Sakazuki to like her, or at least tolerate her, but that didn’t seem to be working. She did all her chores and homework, was as well behaved as a child could be, and never asked for anything that would bother them. All she did was try to stay quiet and out of the way, to never cause them any trouble whatsoever. But it seemed that all her hard work did no good when trying to earn the lava man’s favor, and slowly it was starting to wear on her.

     “I… uhm… w-where’s papa? We were going to go pick out pumpkins and look at the leaves today.” Her already small voice was even smaller as she tried to avoid being too loud this early. But even that seemed to annoy him, and he only glared more, making her shrink down into the chair.

     “He had work.” Despite the obvious resentment in his words Mitsu looked over to the green backpack and orange kitty mask, and then back towards Sakazuki almost hopefully. That look only bothered him more, and he stared at her coldly. “I’m going to the store.”

     Instantly the child perked up and she tried to find a bit of courage to actually ask for what she wanted. “C-can I come? Please?”

     He had just known that would be the question and it made him grit his teeth, smoke coming from his fingers in his frustrated state. On the one hand he would hardly ever want to take this child to the store with him. On the other if he left her alone in the house she could end up hurting the dogs or breaking into his office. Neither option was exactly to his liking, but he’d rather not have to worry about coming home to an injured animal. With a sigh, he picked up his coffee, still not looking towards her. “Fine.”

     Instantly Mitsu was beaming excitedly, wanting to jump up and hug him right then, but not wanting to test her luck. “Thanks Dad! I’ll be on my best behavior, promise!”

     Somehow, he doubted that.

 

     Mitsu was so excited to actually be going out today, and to be spending that time with her dad too! Maybe now he’d actually warm up to her, just maybe. Bouncing up and down she looked around at all the pretty leaves on their way to the grocery store, her kitten mask pulled up on the side of her head and flopping a little each time she moved. No matter how hard she tried Mitsu couldn’t stop looking at all the orange and red leaves, watching as some fell to the ground. It was a beautiful and countless number of colors that swirled around them, and she couldn’t help but stray away from Sakazuki now and again to get a better look at this tree or that. No matter what she’d always dart right back a happy spring in her step after inspecting whatever it was that had caught her fancy at that time.

     Much to Sakazuki’s surprise though, the girl was largely silent, and it seemed to be a different sort of silence than he was used to from her. Usually she was looking at him with worry or fear, but now she smiled and darted about, a bit like an over-eager puppy really. He only had to use the barest motion of his hands to get her to stop moving or fidgeting. A small part of him wondered why she would tense up during these moments, but he paid it no mind. For the time being she was behaving, mostly, and she was silent, it was the most he could expect from the brat.

 

     In the grocery store Sakazuki had a very short list of things they needed, mostly food and for some reason sunflower seeds. Borsalino kept insisting the child needed hair ties but frankly he didn’t understand the reasoning behind it. This entire train of thought began because Mitsu was currently staring up at a bright green scrunchie with little smiling pumpkins all over it. He didn’t understand why she needed it, and her fascination with the thing was beyond him, so he simply kept walking not waiting on her to catch up. A moment or two later Mitsu was running up beside him the little scrunchie in hand.

     “Put it back.” He looked down at his list after spotting the small green thing, expecting her to listen.

     “I… I c-can pay for it. Please?” She looked up at him with those large green eyes, her hands shaking a bit as she held onto the hair accessory. All Sakazuki did in response was glare and it made her shrink seeing the look. Without another word, she turned back and put the scrunchie away, before following after him once more.

 

     He was slowly starting to get annoyed with the child as the shopping trip went on. At every turn, it seemed she got distracted by something new, and she had to stop and examine it each time. Despite him walking on without her she never ceased her antics, and that cheery little smile and wave was calling far more attention than he liked. He wanted to be over and done with this trip, not telling her to put things down every five minutes. Why was Borsalino so attached to this brat? She couldn’t even stop moving for a moment!

     Right there beside the cash register was a scrunchie exactly like the one from before, bright green with orange smiling pumpkins, perfect for the holidays. Mitsu’s eyes lit up, in her mind it had to be fate after all! Rummaging around in her little backpack, her cat mask falling around her neck she pulled out a small pouch and held it up to the cashier. “C-can I buy the scrunchie? Please?”

     With her wide eyes, chubby puffed out cheeks, and bright happy smile she looked the picture of cute. Behind the counter the cashier laughed, smiling down at her before addressing her father. “Oh she’s just the most precious thing, like a little puppy with those big ol’ eyes.”

     Mitsu giggled at the words as the woman plucked up the scrunchie, preparing to toss it in with Sakazuki’s other purchases. It was at this moment at the checkout counter, when his patience was finally on its last meager strand, that the last straw was finally pulled. “Hardly, dogs are at least tolerable.”

     The woman stopped her face going from a friendly smile to slack-jawed horror. Around them the other customers went silent. Showing no signs of recognition, he placed the appropriate amount on the counter and groceries in hand, turned to leave. Yet as he walked off trying to shake off some foreign feeling of dread, he realized that there was no sound behind him still, the familiar little pitter patter of steps was gone. He didn’t need to turn around to know that the young girl was standing there in shock, quiet and teary eyed, the cashier looking as though she wanted to strangle him with her bare hands, and a kind older boy kneeling beside her and holding the scrunchie towards her. This made him grit his teeth, and he barked out, forcing the girl’s attention back on him. “MITSU!”

     He didn’t care that she flinched back at the harsh sound and the others in the store stared at him in shock. He didn’t care that they seemed to want to reach out and hug the small girl. He didn’t care that the few mothers and fathers there held their own children a bit closer. He didn’t care that she was now crying silently and trembling as she followed behind him. He didn’t care that the woman behind the counter was frantically looking for any way to spare her.

     He simply didn’t care.

 

     Mitsu didn’t understand. What had she done wrong? She offered to pay for the scrunchie on her own, and she thought she’d been nice and quiet, she hadn’t asked for anything else the entire time. Didn’t Borsalino say she was supposed to ask when she wanted something? Wasn’t she supposed to feel safe when she was out with them? So why… why was she suddenly so afraid to be walking beside Sakazuki.

     He’d never hit her, but the way he seemed to fume, the set of his shoulders, the glare he shot her each time she got too close… all of it was so familiar. So horrifyingly familiar. She didn’t mean to make his day bad, she just wanted him to like her, to not hate her to not…

     She stepped on his shoe.

     Without a moment to brace herself the man shoved her aside with his foot. It was a quick gesture, one with little malice beside it, and yet it hurt. A sharp pain surged up her leg as she was shoved aside, falling to the ground with a thud, feeling her backpack slam against her shoulder blades. Curling forward she clutched her leg, feeling as blood dripped down from where her stiches had torn.

     What had she done wrong? Why was this happening? Hadn’t she been good?

     Hadn’t she been worth it?

     Sakazuki never slowed his stride or looked back, and while she wasn’t looking he gestured with his hand once more, expecting her to follow.

 

 _Thirty minutes._ Sakazuki distinctly remembered the time just then and he couldn’t be sure why. Thirty minutes? Till Borsalino came home perhaps. They would have dinner, hopefully the man wouldn’t try and cook anything this time. Yet that wasn’t it. Thirty minutes till what? As he unlocked the door he tried to recall. Thirty minutes till some show or other? No that didn’t seem right.

     The dogs where whining, as usual for them whenever one walked into the house. Right thirty minutes till he had to feed them. Except none of the animals rushed over to their food bowls, even when he went into the kitchen. Perhaps it was thirty minutes since something? Should Borsalino have been back thirty minutes ago, no that would have been too early, there were still two hours left in the work day. Thirty minutes since he left the store, that was likely it. And still the dogs where whining, this was unusual now and he grumbled, trying to get them to shut up as he fixed a pot of coffee. They were pawing at the door and even the quietest among them was letting out a loud and annoying whine that refused to cease.

     Grumbling he picked up the pot of coffee, still struggling to remember what it was. Thirty minutes since what? Looking up from the cup as he poured he opened his mouth to tell the dogs to be quiet. And then he froze. The door was still open.

_Thirty minutes since I’ve heard Mitsu’s footsteps._

     Slowly he set the coffee pot down, feeling his grip on the mug tighten harshly. She was upstairs surely, except the dogs would be piling on her if she had just gotten home. Perhaps she was outside, but she hated playing with her backpack on. Maybe he had just not noticed, and she was simply lost in the mass of dogs Borsalino insisted on keeping. _Dogs… oh no…_ and it was only at this moment that Sakazuki realized his fatal mistake. He had spoken aloud at the store.

 

     He wasn’t certain what possessed him to move so quickly, certainly the girl would be fine, she had survived on her own for a year, a little less than an hour would be fine. A year, of course, a year alone and starving and cold, fighting for her life and being put through god only knew what. How often had they taken her, no, how often had Borsalino taken her to the doctors since she’d arrived? It had barely been a few months but there’d been more than a dozen visits. Why wasn’t he able to recall… how had Borsalino met the girl? What had possessed him to take in such a troublesome child! If he had wanted a family this was not the way to do it.

     His mind was clouded with a stream of thoughts and worry, constantly searching for the smallest hint of where she had gone. Borsalino would be furious if the girl had been injured in any way. As he reached the last point where he had noticed the girl Sakazuki stiffened. There were drops of blood on the ground, and just beside it her little kitten mask. A rage seemed to fill him right then. How had he not noticed? Why was this little trinket discarded, had she not painted it herself? Scooping it up he knew what he had to do, right then he had to find the child, no matter what.

 

     Mitsu was sitting near a desolate cliff, curled up and sobbing silently into the cold night air. Everything about the shopping trip had been horrible, and she didn’t want for even a second to remember any of it. Her little jeans were dirty and her hair was covered in leaves and twigs, somewhere along the way she had lost her kitty mask and backpack. Vaguely she was aware of the cold that was setting into her limbs, and the stinging sticky sensation of torn open stitches on her left leg. It was supposed to be a good day.

     But it was anything but a good day. She had sat in the middle of that path crying for five minutes, but Sakazuki never saw her or turned around, so enraged was he at what she had done. Even after running all the way here, after hiding for nearly three hours, she couldn’t figure out why though. Why was he so upset? Why didn’t he stop to help her? Why was she all alone… again?

     All she had wanted today was for it to be warm and happy, to get just one little present, just maybe? Was that too much to ask? Of course it was too much to ask, why did she ever ask in the first place, she didn’t deserve such things. Her tears were running hot down her face even as the sun set, and slowly she began to inch closer towards the ledge of the cliff.

     She didn’t care anymore. She couldn’t make them happy, she couldn’t even do one thing right, all she could do was be an eyesore, a whelp, a useless little brat. So why was she bothering anymore? So why did she not just-

     “MITSU!” The angry scream was familiar and coming from just behind her. Looking over her shoulder she saw him, Sakazuki, standing there with his arms boiling with magma. Mitsu on the other hand looked quite different. Tears were streaming down her face, leg bloody and face covered in dirt and bruises, she looked like she had just crawled through a swamp to get here. And in some ways she had, while Sakazuki had been able to simply stomp over the underbrush that led to the secluded little cliff, Mitsu had needed to crawl under it the whole way, leaving her a mess. “Get back here immediately.”

     Turning away from him she looked down at the rocks below, at the waves crashing over them, at the remains of small fishing vessels that lay scattered over the sharp peaks. She got a bit closer. “It’s fine. I won’t bother you any more…”

     Out of all the times to be made of lava! Sakazuki found himself racing through his memories, trying to recall some strategy or guide to these situations. He was positive he had been forced to sit through a training course on ‘jumpers’ but that was decades ago! And it certainly had not covered what to do with children! Shave would get him within range of her but with her size if he tried to grab here there was no way it would be gentle, and she would likely only be hurt more. His arms could extend towards her, but they would be molten lava and that was a death sentence he was not prepared to explain to Borsalino, or anyone for that matter! If he got too close, or stopped speaking for even a moment the girl would have the chance to just slip over the edge with how close she was standing. Why the hell wasn’t Borsalino here! He could handle situations like this.

     “You will step back here right-“

     That was the wrong thing to say, she only inched closer to the edge, looking away from him as she did so. “MITSU!”

     Worry? Was that worry that had just entered his voice? No it wasn’t worry, he couldn’t be worried about this little brat!

     “It’s fine sir, I don’t want to be a hassle, I’m sorry.”

     Why were those words making him scared? Why was that look on her face so familiar? That look of hopelessness, of being so lost, of sheer apathy to the world and everything in it? And then it sunk in, just where he had seen that look. Marines back from battle, soldiers so used to pain and death it was like breathing, that look… that stared back at him in the mirror every time he let himself stop thinking for even one moment.

     “Mitsu… I need you to take a step back. Who… is supposed to feed the dogs anyway?” This wasn’t how it was supposed to be done, he was positive of that. But he wasn’t sure what to say or do at this point, it felt as though every option would only lead to her falling off that cliff, and once that was done he didn’t know if he could save her. “They would miss you.”

     “It’d be better if I was a dog.” She didn’t step back, but she didn’t move forward either, for now that was a good sign. “At least then you and Borsalino wouldn’t hate me.”

     “Borsalino does not hate you!” That worried him more, she had called Kizaru ‘Papa’ since the day she had arrived at their home. With every little word he was inching forward, trying to get close enough to grab her.

     “But you do… I ruined your life…” Fuck, another step forward, her toes were nearly hanging over the edge now. Just what had this girl seen to drive her so close to death at such a young age? There had to have been dozens, hundreds, of possibilities, each one worse than the last.

     Swallowing the angry retort he wanted to scream at her and tried to keep his tone level, a challenge for a man so used to communicating in growls and shouts. “You didn’t ruin my life, and I do not hate you Mitsu.”

     “Th-then why… why did you kick me?” That he had no answer for. It had been a spur of the moment action, and he hadn’t realized he’d done it until a few moments after. Clearly though the girl was in no state to take such rough treatment. For what seemed like the first time since she’d gotten there Sakazuki took a good long look at her. Her cheeks were soft and chubby, but that was about the only chubby thing about her. She was nearly emaciated even after the weeks of proper meals Borsalino had been giving her, well… mostly proper meals. He recalled that morning and how she had struggled to make breakfast herself, with a clearly already injured leg. Her hair was a long tangle, and it would have been that way even without the mess she had crawled through, so that was why Borsalino insisted she needed a hair tie. Even before all of this he recalled how she seemed so much smaller than other children her age, the glares she received from the passerby on the way to town as soon as they saw the gills on her neck, how she flinched each time he moved his hand towards her.

     “I… I forgot how small you were, how it would hurt you.” His words made her look up a bit in confusion, it almost sounded like an apology. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

     He had to basically force the words out of his mouth. He wasn’t used to apologizing, honestly, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d apologized for anything. But right then so long as she stepped back from that ledge, even just a bit, he would say anything.

     By a miracle of chance or luck, it worked, and she took just a step back. “D-do you mean it?”

     She was so hopeful, so small and scared, she looked like a stiff breeze would break her. But still she stood there looking up at him, wanting to know if it would really be okay. Borsalino would be so much better at this, so much better at calming her and caring for her, he was the father of the pair. But right now, he was all she had. “I promise, I will never harm you again.” 

     Just another inch and she would be in arms reach, and with those words… she took another step back, looking up at him worriedly. In a flash he had her scooped up in his arms, and was immediately moving away from the rocky cliff side. There were few events in his life that made his heart pound like this, but as he felt the small child shaking and sobbing against his shoulders, he knew this would be one of the times he truly remembered.

 

     It was about an hour before they were finally opening the door to the house, Mitsu still sitting in Sakazuki’s arm, her tears quietly falling down her cheeks. He sighed when he didn’t hear the dogs, until a loud cheer rang out from the door to the living room. “HAPPY BIRTH-… day…”

     Borsalino stood there, a bright orange party hat tilted on his head, and all the dogs were behind him wearing similar party hats. Over his head hung a massive banner declaring ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY MITSU’ in bright green and orange letters. At this precise moment however any thoughts of wishing his daughter a happy birthday went straight out the window as his husband and child walked through the door. She was bleeding, covered in dirt and twigs, and judging from the look of shock and shame on Sakazuki’s face he had something to do with it.

     Though Sakazuki tried to open his mouth to explain Borsalino was having none of it, and simply rushed to Mitsu’s side scooping her up and talking rapidly, asking a million questions a minute. His usual slowness was gone as he looked over every inch of her, and if Saka so much as moved it earned him a glare that he had not previously known Borsalino could give. The stitches weren’t torn too badly, and some bandaging would do until they found a doctor, she wasn’t injured much in any other way, but the more she answered his questions the angrier Borsalino became.

     Until at last, he smiled. “Ohh, is that what happened? Alright… well Mitsu, go on and clean up hm? We’ll have some cake and ice cream, maybe that will help you feel better?”

     Sniffling the girl nodded before heading up the stairs, finally leaving the two admirals alone. The room was silent as the grave, and Borsalino kept looking towards his husband awaiting some form of response. All Sakazuki could do was swallow and try to think of something to say or do to make up for this. “I… will go and buy her some scrunchies…”

**Author's Note:**

> He gets better. Eventually. He has no choice.


End file.
